Triode Wire Labs returns to the Mono & Stereo spotlight with the latest Digital American II power cord.
As evident throughout the review, and as expected from Triode Wire Labs, these cables deliver performance far beyond their price range, offering a captivating and thrilling listening experience.
Design Philosophy
A. Material Selection
The Digital American II power cord employs high-purity copper conductors with proprietary anti-oxidation coating, which are critical for minimizing resistance and enhancing power source clarity. The choice of materials is essential in maintaining the integrity of the electrical signal, especially in reducing high-frequency noise in digital applications.
B. Construction Techniques
The construction of the Digital American II includes:
- Multi-stranded Highly Annealed Conductors with Advanced Geometry: Enhances flexibility and reduces skin effect, allowing for improved sonic resolution. The hand-braided geometry reduces the loop area, rejecting EMI and RFI artifacts.
- Special Dielectric: Utilizes a combination of proprietary insulation, providing both durability and shielding against external interference. Employs conductive carbon sleeving for maintaining clean audio signals and RF filtering as well as use in static sensitive environments.
- Connector Quality: Features high-quality, Furukawa copper connectors from IeGO Dream Works that ensure optimal conductivity and corrosion resistance as well as
custom CNC-machined carbon fiber and aluminum outer housings with special dampening and insulating properties. - Deep Cryogenic Treatment: Reduces electrical resistance, improves signal clarity which results in a more refined and deeper soundstage, better separation of instruments as well as deeper bass notes and effortless treble, while remaining balanced sounding.
- Demagnetization Treatment: Eliminates any residual magnetism, which can interfere with the audio signal and degrade sound quality. Similar positive effects as
cryogenic treatment, with a reduced noise floor and quieter backgrounds. - Preliminary “burn-in” prior to shipping: Provides an accelerated Break-In period to reach their optimal performance. The Audiodharma Cable Cooker expedites this process, allowing cables to settle into their best sonic characteristics more quickly.
All Triode Wire Labs cables are placed into the cable cooker prior to shipping.
The Music
It quickly becomes evident that the Triode Wire Labs power cable is a high-performance cable designed for high-performing audio systems, capable of revealing deeper layers of music across all genres.
As always, here is a list of reference tracks and albums showcasing the standout attributes of the Digital American II power cord.
Vril & Rødhåd Presents Out Of Place Artefacts
One of the tracks/albums that push any system to its limits with its dynamic range, massive soundstage, and elevated spatial detail is Vril & Rødhåd’s album, particularly the fifth track, “GEOMANTIC.” The album is musically and energetically charged, but “GEOMANTIC” quickly reveals the challenges of more demanding music reproduction.
The Digital American II power cord excels at channeling the hard-hitting yet refined electronic composition of this track. Where some power cables can distort dynamic momentum, the Triode Wire Labs power cord handles decrescendos and crescendos with equal finesse.
It was refreshing and uniquely unusual to observe how the Digital American II set the stage for “GEOMANTIC’s” densely layered sonic landscape, highlighting numerous sonic textures and acoustic details without overpowering them.
With its low-noise design, the Triode Wire Labs power cable reveals more layers of music, and intensifies dynamics where appropriate, allowing the music to emerge from deep within the soundstage, without narrowing it. On the contrary to congesting the spatial field, the Digital American II notably naturally extends the vertical and horizontal planes.
This creates a potent foundation for dynamically and rhythmically complex music like Vril & Rødhåd.
Bernard Herrmann & National Philharmonic Orchestra – The Fantasy Film World Of Bernard Herrmann
Just as with electronic music, classical music also requires a wholesome approach to power delivery, where naturally created, everchanging dynamics demand a minute delivery of unaltered power and lighting-fast precision.
The nuanced delicacies of The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann by Bernard Herrmann and the National Philharmonic Orchestra only come to life when a system—and, in this case, the power cable—can faithfully convey both the delicacy and power of an orchestra.
Listening with the Digital American II power cable revealed an intriguing and positively surprising sonic journey. It seamlessly filled the frequency spectrum without artificially boosting gain—a phenomenon that even some pricier power cords fail to achieve.
The Triode Wire Labs power cable added a distinct sense of depth to the sound, bringing the orchestral momentum to the forefront. The Digital American II once again demonstrated its carefully honed and potent capabilities, unraveling both the mass and finesse of the orchestra without becoming overly aggressive or restrained, nor focusing on artificially enhanced details, which can lead to brittle sound.
An overly focused frequency bump can quickly distort the sound if the cable design lacks careful material selection and real-world testing through listening sessions. The Digital American II is no happy accident—it results from thorough craftsmanship.
There is something special about how the Digital American II power cable brings intricacy, smooth transitions, and natural timbre, tone, and color to both the orchestra as a whole and to individual instruments, especially noticeable in the metal percussion and horn section.
This uniqueness carries over to the orchestral tempo, where power cables can fundamentally impact timing. Not only can they affect timing itself, but they also influence how the harmonic “bubble” of the orchestra is preserved.
Unwanted lower density can cause the soundstage to collapse, reducing essential anchor points, that are crucial for recreating the natural acoustic space.
The Digital American II avoids this, allowing reverberations, decays, and delays to be fully and authentically represented.
Mari Boine – Idjagiedas – In the Hand of the Night
Another important and often overlooked reference point in audio reproduction is the human voice. Many high-end audio manufacturers still use human vocals as a primary guide when fine-tuning their products.
Despite its seemingly limited frequency range, vocals—like piano—pose one of the greatest challenges for accurate and faithful projection.
The Digital American II power cord has a set of attributes that preserves vocal integrity, and doesn’t interfere with sibilance by artificially filtering it; instead, it lets the music come through naturally, without rounding off notes or tones, allowing the human voice to take on a realistic, three-dimensional presence.
It also becomes apparent that this power cord from the American series was carefully designed to operate at an optimal balance point, enabling it to reproduce music with exactitude and harmony. This demonstrates that with thoughtful engineering, materials selection, and extensive sonic testing, it’s possible to achieve performance typically reserved for higher-end cables.
The mystical and evocative quality of Idjagiedas is notoriously difficult to reproduce, yet the Triode Wire Labs Digital American II power cable presented my favorite track, “Suoivva,” with a warmer, more natural midrange presence. It introduced a more airy, open sound, allowing the vocals to sit effortlessly in the aural sphere.
Conclusion
Triode Wire Labs has been a familiar cable brand at Mono & Stereo for years and under the baton of Pete Grzybowski, Triode Wire Labs’ products consistently deliver exceptional performance.
The Digital American II power cord is no exception, showcasing the company’s signature technology and craftsmanship, bringing high-quality audio performance within reach of more audiophiles and music lovers.
Like all Triode Wire Labs cables, the Digital American II links listeners intimately with the essence of the music, allowing for seamless exploration of musical realms without imposing its presence or causing listener fatigue—something even some of the more expensive power cables often struggle to avoid.
As with every Triode Wire Labs product, regardless of price, attention to detail is paramount, and the American II series power cord delivers in both terms of quality and performance.
Designed as a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Digital American II power cord features approximately 20% more conductor material and incorporates advanced technology similar to the Obsession NCF. This reduces interference and distortion, delivering cleaner, unadulterated power, raw energy, and uncompromising audio quality.
Available in lengths ranging from 1m to 10m, the cord accommodates a variety of setups and user preferences. Built to be durable and flexible, it allows easy installation in tight spaces without sacrificing strength. Its user-friendly design also reduces strain on connectors and outlets, ensuring long-term reliability.
One of the biggest challenges for any cable—whether interconnect, speaker, or power cable—is to avoid interfering with the music. This is where Digital American II excels, providing sheer musical power while remaining transparent and unobtrusive.
Too often, power cables—regardless of price—act as bottlenecks, constricting the flow of music and creating a sense that the energy is being pushed through a narrow space, which leads to disorder and a blurring effect. Music, though it may seem random and expansive, follows patterns that our brains and psychoacoustic mechanisms recognize, allowing us to experience it clearly and without fatigue when everything is set correctly.
The American series power cord doesn’t rely on artificial enhancements to engage the listener; it lets the music flow naturally, revealing deeper dimensions and keeping the listener’s enthusiasm at its peak.
The Digital American II power cord stands apart with its transparency, versatility across systems, and sound quality that exceeds its price range.
Triode Wire Labs has consistently maintained a high price-to-performance ratio, offering products that challenge larger, more expensive cable offerings. The Digital American II embodies the company’s core values, built with the same focus and precision as their higher-end models.
This power cord wasn’t engineered to follow bling aesthetic trends (though it still looks highly stylish); it was designed to be an affordable, high-performance cable. Triode Wire Labs achieves this through ongoing research, design refinements, and customer and industry feedback.
The latest version of the Digital American power cord not only delivers the renowned Triode Wire Labs performance but also elevates the price-to-performance ratio to new heights, allowing the music to fully expand with a stand-out clarity and depth which earns it the prestigious Mono & Stereo 2024 Best Buy Award. ❖
Price
- $549.00 – $994.00
Technical Specifications
A. Electrical Characteristics
- Conductor Gauge: 9 AWG (American Wire Gauge)
- Voltage Rating: tested at 300V; rated up to 600V AC
- Current Rating: 15A
B. Performance Metrics
- Impedance: Low impedance to minimize signal degradation.
- Capacitance: Designed to minimize capacitance, ensuring more dynamics and
“slam” with an authoritative sound.
Contact
Triode Wire Labs, Inc.
PO Box 32
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
T: 1-516-659-6748
Email: triodewirelabs@gmail.com
Web: triodewirelabs.com